India : Wind power capacity addition in 2016-17 put at 5,400 MW

India added a record 5,400 MW of wind power capacity in 2016-17, according to a government press release issued today. The previous high was 3,472 MW achieved in 2015-16.

Notably, as much as 2,026 MW got added only in March again beating March 2016 record of 1,700 MW.

Also, with the addition of 5,400 MW (which appears to be a rounded figure), the country’s wind power capacity stands at 31,177 MW.

Andhra Pradesh topped installations with 2,190 MW, followed by Gujarat at 1,275 and Karnataka 882 MW.

The crossing of the 5 GW mark for the first time augurs well as the wind industry is holding an international conference, Windergy 2017, between April 25 and 27, in New Delhi.

On 19th February, BusinessLine carried a report quoting the Chairman of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers’ Association, Sarvesh Kumar, that wind power installations in 2016-17 would cross the 5 GW mark. As mentioned in the report, wind power developers have rushed to complete the projects so as to be able to avail themselves of the ‘generation based incentive’ scheme that expired on March 31. (Industry sources are, however, confident that the government would bring back the incentive.)

Wind industry observers feel that 2017-18 will be good too. In addition to the demand from the eight windy states, the central government has begun auctioning capacity, buying the power to sell further to states without wind potential-expanding the market. Already, 1,000 MW capacity has been auctioned.